Of Vampires and Foxes
by Paradox Jast
Summary: Very little is known of the Shinso, even by those who act as their guardians while they sleep. It hasn't been that long since the last time Naruto was awoken to solve a crisis. This time, however, the impact of his awakening reverberates throughout all of creation, and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Naruto x Moka x Kokoa main. 'Guilty Pleasure' type fic.
1. Day Zero

It was cold.

Cold, and dark. Not to mention there was a musty sort of smell in the air that made his nose twitch. There was a sudden urge to pinch it closed, or even rub it... only to find out that his hands were bound.

He shifted his body slightly, only to realize that while he wasn't really bound – instead, he was packed into a container that didn't have any room for maneuvering.

Panic would have been the first step for most humans, but Naruto Uzumaki wasn't like most... not to mention that he wasn't entirely human either. Not anymore, anyway. At least, that's what he told himself as he started waking up from his long slumber, old memories moving to the forefront.

A clicking noise made him hold his breath, but only for a second until he remembered what it was. The release mechanism for his coffin of sorts, like the kind that vampires supposedly used. Not that he was one – on the contrary, he'd fought alongside many vampires in his own long, storied history – but he'd never partaken in the act of drinking blood for sustenance.

Of course, none of the vampires in the past would remember who he was, as most of the blood-suckers he'd fought alongside had died to their own 'creator', Alucard.

He inhaled deeply to let out a sigh, only to nearly choke as the musty smell invaded his nostrils. The blond managed to hold it off – just barely – as there was a loud thump, followed by the sound of stone grinding on stone as the top of his box was pushed to the side.

Light began to enter his vision as the lid was shifted, though his eyes quickly adjusted. While his current power levels were completely suppressed and would take some time to return, certain aspects of his once-human anatomy had changed long ago and were permanent whether he had his old power flowing in his veins or not.

It took perhaps a half a minute for the lid to be completely removed, and needing no time to let his eyes adjust, Naruto slowly pushed himself upright, taking a brief look around. How much time had it been since-

His current thought process stopped abruptly as his crystal blue eyes settled on what appeared to be the only other occupant of his chamber. Someone who – while quite powerful in his own right – Naruto was secretly grateful upon his last sealing that he'd never have to deal with the man again. He wasn't a bad man, per-se, but definitely gave off a creepy vibe.

So, in an attempt to make his voice as deadpan as possible, as dry as his throat was he only managed to croak out his name in a half-whisper.

"Mikogami."

It didn't take but a moment for the half-hidden face to break out into a wide grin. "Ah, Naruto-kun! I'm so glad you remember me!"

Grumbling internally, Naruto shifted himself so that his legs lifted up over the side of his stone box, and with a short grunt he managed to propel himself over the side and onto solid ground. His muscles twitched briefly from the exertions and the need to keep his balance, but otherwise he didn't collapse. It seemed he was finally getting used to this whole sealing thing.

"Unfortunately I don't think I could ever forget you. What's with the getup?"

"Ah, this?" The man named Tenmei Mikogami chuckled briefly as he fingered his hood. "Well, I'll have you know I'm the headmaster of a school now, and the students all seem to enjoy a certain degree of mystery. Many of them seem to have made it a mission to see what lies under the hood!"

The man seemed unnaturally giddy, and for a very brief moment the blond was reminded of one of his first true teachers long ago, a man named Kakashi. However those were thoughts for another time, and he pushed them aside in an attempt to figure out what was going on right now.

"That's nice and all," Naruto drawled, "But the real question I should be asking is what I'm doing back out here already. I've never been unsealed by the same person before. You don't look all that much different either, nor has your aura changed a great deal. It can't have been that long."

The man known as The Exorcist finally looked away, sighing briefly. "I was hoping to avoid it, as the limitations of the seal that keep you contained are well known to a person like me. Releasing it as soon as I did was a risky move, but things are moving out of my control faster than I thought possible."

Naruto folded his arms over his chest before leaning back slightly to rest against the cool stone of his 'coffin'. "Where is Fuhai? Is this not something the two of you could handle?"

"Unfortunately, he appears to be currently indisposed." At this, the hooded man's look soured. "I have been unable to contact Touhou for the better part of three months. But before I get too far ahead of myself I should probably inform you... the Shuzen vampire clan managed to release Akasha Bloodriver from the seal she was using to contain Alucard almost forty years ago. Unfortunately, about seven years ago he was about to break free from his imprisonment so she had to re-seal him."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I went over that original sealing method with her. It should have been foolproof. What happened?"

Tenmei shrugged. "I don't know the details, other than he awoke again roughly nine or ten years after you were re-sealed. Akasha did what she could to contain him, but ended up sealing him once again before he regained full power. She was strangely hard to contact in the years leading up to Alucard being re-sealed. I always suspected foul play, but alas – no proof."

The blond leaned forward, away from the stone, and moved his hands to rub at his temples. Why couldn't anything ever be simple? "So by my estimation it's only been what, a little over two hundred years since I was sealed last?"

"Correct. The chamber will take at least another two years to re-seal you successfully and mask your power level."

"Tell me something I don't know," Naruto grumbled. "My power is also going to take much longer to return this time since I've been unsealed too early, so I hope this isn't an emergency."

Mikogami's smile returned slightly. "No, nothing major has happened yet. However I'm sure that at least someone will make a move within the next year, at least."

Naruto stared at the man, waiting for him to explain further. However, Mikogami simply walked toward the exit of the sealing chamber, waving a hand briefly over his shoulder.

"Let's go to my office. I have some things to show and give you, and a lot more to explain so that you can get up to speed."

* * *

Moka Akashiya hummed quietly to herself as she went over the new material from homeroom. There was a lot of quiet background noise as people talked amongst themselves, but she put off talking to others for the moment in favor of getting organized.

Nekonome-sensei had quickly summarized her introduction, since she had arrived late to class due to her anemia. It was everything that she already knew, but it was nice to get a reminder that she didn't have to go to a human school anymore.

Turning her head slightly to the left, she saw one of her classmates who she literally ran into just outside the school – Tsukune Aono. Perhaps she was a bit more attached to him already than she should be, but he seemed so nice and friendly... not to mention how his blood tasted. It was almost as if...

Moka shook her head slightly. It wasn't possible, she was in a place for monsters only now.

Her thoughts stopped as the door to the classroom opened quietly to admit another student into the room. Moka couldn't help but blink a few times as she took in his appearance, only somewhat aware that the noise level in the room had completely dropped as everyone sized up the new arrival.

The boy walked over to the desk to stand next to Nekonome-sensei, his hand outstretched toward her with a piece of paper clasped in it.

"Sorry for being late, sensei. I had a meeting with the Chairman that went a little longer than we expected."

The teacher grabbed the paper with a quick swipe before opening it and glancing at the writing. She nodded once before setting it on her desk and turning to face the teen once again.

"Since we've already done introductions, why don't you tell the others who you are before you take the seat in the back corner over there by the window?"

The boy nodded, then promptly performed a quick bow. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I hope we all get along." That said, Moka watched as he quickly scanned the room, perhaps to see if he recognized anyone. She thought that his bright blue gaze might have rested on her for a second longer than any other, but it was probably just her imagination.

Like everyone else though, she watched as he moved over to the far aisle, walking down the row of desks to the very last one. Her gaze passed over Tsukune, who obviously flinched when Naruto walked by for whatever reason, but other than that the blond's trek to his desk was uneventful.

Turning back to face the front of the room, she grabbed a pen and started to copy the lesson plan that was on the board. It may not have been due today, but there was nothing wrong with working ahead.

* * *

This class had to be the most boring event of Naruto's life. While it was nice to catch up on the way things changed over time, it hadn't been all that long since his last unsealing, so unlike the periods between his previous sealings not nearly as much had changed. Even if he was only unsealed for about three months last time, he made sure to use Shadow Clones to get as caught up as he could.

But now... now he had to go to school. Why? Mikogami wanted him to monitor two people in this class – Moka Akashiya and Tsukune Aono.

The first was somewhat obvious. To Naruto, who felt like he had seen Akasha Bloodriver barely a week ago, now knew that the female vampire had a daughter with the head of the Shuzen clan roughly sixteen years ago. The girl was definitely a spitting image of her mother, the similarity was so uncanny that he believed there had to be something unnatural about it. Mikogami wouldn't say a thing, however.

Wouldn't or couldn't... Naruto wasn't sure which.

Of course it was an interesting little tidbit that Akasha barely looked twenty-five and would easily have been over 300 years old. Naturally, he could only estimate her age – he never asked her during the brief time when they fought side by side or when he was teaching her a few seals to contain Alucard.

As for Alucard... he was estimated to be roughly about 600 years old. He was supposedly the first vampire, and continued to become obsessed with power. So much so that he lost himself to his beast form – absorbing other monsters with wild abandon, until he was finally put down roughly 200 years ago.

Naruto's eyes flickered away from Moka as the girl stood up, only to hear her greet Tsukune and start pulling the boy out of the classroom.

The boy was supposed to be a human. Nothing special about him. Mikogami apparently tried to find a rather unassuming boy to play companion to Moka, one that would hopefully stumble upon trouble around the school and need to be helped, or even rescued.

The Chairman had gambled that eventually Moka would learn to use her own inherited Shinso powers so that they could get her help if they ever needed to fight Alucard again. Naruto felt it was too big a gamble, and Mikogami reluctantly agreed – hence the blond being released from his seal again. Not to mention how young the girl was. While Naruto had his own experiences and a lot of power to fall back on, Moka was completely fresh, inherited power or not.

Naruto's eyes drifted up to the clock, to see that it was currently time for a break. Looking around the classroom, he noted that many of his fellow classmates had already moved into their own groups. Moka had pulled Tsukune out of the classroom, and shortly after they left a few other boys got up and went through the door as well.

A sudden burst of giggles had him looking over to see the source, only to see another group of four girls looking at him – then quickly turning away and giggling again once he met their collective gaze.

Just great.

Sighing, the blond stood up and made a rather quick dash for the exit. He had no intention of hanging around in case one of those giggly girls got an idea that he was interested in them. No, he learned long ago that any sort of personal relationships just weren't going to work out... not with the kind of power he contained.

Well, at full power, anyway. But he wouldn't be at that level again for a while.

Moving out into the hallway, Naruto looked around briefly before walking off in what he believed was a random direction. There were a lot of people in the halls, though he supposed he shouldn't be terribly surprised since it was the first day of school. There were probably a lot of monsters trying to find their way around campus, or older students trying to locate friends – or rivals - from previous years.

Sadly he didn't get very far before he encountered what looked to be a group of students blocking his current path. They weren't specifically blocking him though; on the contrary, all he could see were their backs.

"It's Saizou!"

Naruto slowed his walk so that he could listen in to what the others were saying. It was a name he'd already heard a few time in his own class.

"You mean Saizou Komiya?"

"Yeah, last I heard he was forced to come to this Academy against his will!"

"Really? Why?"

"He's one of those rogue types who likes to be a tough guy. Apparently he molested too many women in the human world so he was forced to come here and be taught how to interact."

"Should we step in then? That other guy looks like he's about... oh, nevermind. Wow, she's fast. I wonder what kind of monster she is to be able to move that fast and drag that other guy with her?"

At this point Naruto began to ignore what they were saying. Could it have been...

Shaking his head, the blond began walking again as the crowd dispersed. It probably was Moka and Tsukune. Since Moka was a vampire she could move quickly and pull or carry a lot of weight along with her. He'd have to keep an eye out for that Saizou sleaze, though. There was no doubt that Moka could handle herself if she really needed to, but with Tsukune around... he wasn't very confident in her abilities yet.

Sadly, even his own repertoire was limited at the moment.

A slight rumbling noise reminded him that he hadn't eaten in a while. Maybe this school served ramen?

* * *

"That's all for today. If anyone has any questions about what we'll be doing, I'll be available for a while after class. Oh, and start thinking about what clubs you may want to join! That's all!"

Naruto tried not to be distracted by the distinctly feline tail that was waving back and forth behind Nekonome-sensei. He couldn't help but be amused that they expected near perfection in transformations for students... but his homeroom teacher was obviously having an incredibly difficult time maintaining the whole thing. Her hair, her fingernails, her _tail_...

Chuckling to himself, Naruto performed his new routine of surveying the room. Most of the class was simply getting their stuff together and preparing to leave. There were a few who were simply talking to each other. Moka seemed to be in a hurry to pack, likely to grab Tsukune and take off running again.

Tsukune, however, looked to be considerably more pale than Naruto remembered. Perhaps the boy was finally coming to terms about being the only human in a school full of monsters? Or maybe Moka had drained him a little too much. It wasn't too difficult for him to catch a faint whiff of blood coming from the both of them. He didn't notice it until walking past Tsukune's desk when they returned from break, but upon reinforcing his sense of smell, it became obvious.

Poor boy. Naruto couldn't keep the slight smirk off of his face even as Tsukune was dragged out of the classroom once again. Checking around one last time, the blond noted that Saizou wasn't in the room anymore, but he hadn't seen the taller boy leave at any point after Moka and Tsukune did, so he must have left before. Perhaps he had something else to do after class.

Naruto wanted to make a clone to shadow Tsukune and Moka while he went to go meditate, but doing it in class now would be a little too conspicuous, so it was probably best to head to the rooftop. Hopefully there wasn't anyone else up there.

After walking a few minutes at a brisk pace, Naruto arrived at the roof, thankfully finding it unoccupied. Making the usual hand sign, he quickly formed a shadow clone, only to nearly fall to one knee from the energy loss.

"Ugh, boss. I don't feel so good."

Naruto turned slightly to examine his clone, seeing that it _had_ fallen down to one knee and looked almost... sickly. Hopefully the lifespan of the clone wasn't shortened too badly.

"I didn't realize that I'd be quite this bad off. Can you move?"

The clone nodded slowly before climbing back to its feet. "Yeah, but I'm real sluggish. I probably won't last more than a half an hour."

That was seriously bad. In his prime a single clone that used half of his chakra could last for about a week as long as it didn't take too much damage. Of course if it lasted for that full week the information feedback was a bitch, so he'd never used it more than a couple times in his life.

"Try to track down Tsukune first, then Moka. Just keep an eye on them for as long as you're able. I'm going to try to meditate for a little bit so that I can maybe use a little more chakra."

The clone nodded at him, then tried to move quickly over to the side of the building, only stumbling once. Naruto watched as it grunted once before hopping over the side.

Taking a deep breath, the blond slowly walked towards where he estimated the center of the roof to be. Sitting down and crossing his legs, he slowly adopted the meditative posture that he learned from the toads so very long ago that he needed in order to connect to nature.

It was a relatively simple process, though admittedly it was slightly more difficult than normal because of everything that had been going on. For Naruto, to calm down and find his inner self was no big deal, it actually became easier once he was no longer fully human anymore. But that would bring up memories, and he was trying to clear his mind...

Though something wasn't working the way it should. Or rather, he could sense nature... but it was just a trickle. Snapping his eyes open again, it finally registered that he wasn't in a place where nature had much of a presence at all. If anything, this was just a little slice of the demon world that had been placed in another realm, one where nature was suppressed.

It was certainly _there_, he could feel it. Sadly, there wasn't enough for him to use to clean his system. He'd have to settle for doing it the old fashioned way, lots of food and plenty of exercise. Lifting a hand, he clenched and released it, attempting to pulse some chakra through the appendage. There was nothing more than a trickle that expelled through his tenketsu... it wasn't even visible.

Grimacing, he realized that he probably had the chakra reserves of a fresh chuunin from long ago. Pitiful. His original body as a full human had the chakra of a Kage level shinobi from his time. Because of being unsealed early, his power would return even slower than normal as well.

His vision blurred for a brief second as foreign memories invaded his mind. His clone didn't run out of chakra... it dispelled itself. It just finished tracking them over a hill and then...

Tsukune, battered and bloody, with Moka kneeling next to him looking frightened. Saizou standing there transformed into some ogre-like monster, looking triumphant.

"Shit," Naruto cursed. He didn't generally use foul language, but sometimes it worked as an exclamation point to a bad situation. This was a perfect moment.

Running over to the side of the roof, he promptly leaped over the side towards one of the dead-looking trees. As he landed on one of the larger branches he prepared himself for a rough landing, but instead managed to stick to it and pushed off. It actually held. With the way it looked, he thought it was dead and would have snapped. It seemed that the small trickle of nature that he felt actually came from these trees. Even though they looked dead, they were alive.

Reaching the next tree and pushing off again, he almost stumbled on the branch as a large, sinister pressure began pressing down on him the closer he moved to Moka and Tsukune's last location. He grit his teeth and moved on – there was no way this was coming from Saizou. That brute didn't seem intelligent enough to be able to focus and hide such power.

However that meant it could only be Moka's power that he felt. There was only a small amount of relief in that as Mikogami had stressed that her seal could only be removed under various controlled circumstances. He wouldn't say anything more for some reason, but seemed to give the impression that the seal would only be removed if the Chairman decided it should be.

That meant... Tsukune. Of course. But did Mikogami really choose Tsukune because he was truly special for some reason, or was it because of his distinct lack of youki that he could manipulate such an obvious physical seal? Naruto supposed he'd find out soon enough. The pressure had stopped growing, and the blond figured he was nearly on top of them as a result.

Dropping down to the ground, he almost instinctively ducked as he heard a loud shout, followed by the sound of something immense go crashing through the nearby forest. Well, that definitely wasn't Moka... which meant that she had in fact somehow released her seal and had rescued both herself and Tsukune from the delinquent.

Good thing, too. Considering he had to catch his breath for a few seconds after dropping down from the trees, it would have been a long fight full of feints and distractions in order for him to defeat anyone with even a modicum of power right now.

Which meant he had to be very, very careful around Moka. He wouldn't last long in a fight against her at his current level... the best he'd be able to do would be to flee.

As he exited the quickly thinning forested area, his eyes immediately focused on the two people standing near a cluster of rocks. Interestingly enough, they were both staring right where he exited. Perhaps he was leaking a bit of his admittedly small amount of energy? He hadn't the time to test his abilities yet.

Approaching at a casual gait, he made a point of looking around, easily spotting the place where Saizou had obviously been flung through several tree trunks. That undoubtedly left a mark on the other monster.

"Who are you?"

Naruto stopped suddenly, a handful of meters away from the other two. Looking towards them again, he performed a quick observation before responding. Tsukune looked rather worse for wear – bleeding in several places, though it looked like everything had scabbed over by now. His clothes were torn in a few spots as well. A slight flicker of light from the boy's left hand answered the question of how Moka's suppressed power had been released; the rosario was clutched tightly in his hand.

As for Moka herself, she was staring at him with a look that was almost daring him to make a move. Slitted blood red eyes, much like his own when he was tapping deeper into his own powers. It was actually a fairly common trait amongst more powerful demons, though there were so few of them that he doubted anyone really paid much attention to that. Her hair had turned from bright pink to a silvery-white that glowed eerily in the evening sun.

Other than her eyes and hair, she seemed to carry herself more proudly than when she was sealed – or perhaps she legitimately was taller. As an unintentional side effect, her school skirt didn't really do much to hinder any male's imagination.

He simply chuckled and shrugged slightly. "You're leaking youki like a sieve. I'm not sure it's intentional, but I could feel it all the way back at the school and chose to investigate." A small lie, but they didn't need to know that. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "I'm sorta sad that I missed him being flung through the trees like that."

Moka's lips twitched slightly, like she wanted to smirk, but instead cocked her left hip slightly to the side and folded her arms under her breasts. Naruto, thankfully, had the mental fortitude not to let his eyes glance down at her chest, especially since she was looking right at him. If she noticed this at all, the now white-haired girl gave no indication.

"It's a long journey from the school to here."

Once again, Naruto shrugged. "Let's just say I'm pretty fast when I want to be." He offered her a smile, which she did not return, before looking at the only human among them.

"Are you going to be okay? The infirmary is a bit of a trek from here, and you look like you've seen better days. It's going to take a while for that to heal since you're human."

Their reactions were exactly as he expected. At first Tsukune looked panicked, immediately followed by a fake laugh and an attempt to pass it off. As for Moka, he was pretty sure that he heard her growl, but her aura definitely pressed down on him a little harder than it was before.

To both reassure Tsukune and calm down the vampire girl, he waved his hands slightly. "Whoa, whoa... take it easy. I don't care what you are or aren't. I'm just stating facts here. You need any help getting back?"

The pressure from Moka slowly disappeared, and Tsukune looked like he couldn't understand what Naruto just said. It took a moment before the other boy shook his head and looked at Naruto curiously.

"Are... you really don't... don't care? That I'm human, I mean?"

Naruto blinked. "No. Should I?"

Tsukune actually looked at Moka for a moment before returning his gaze to the blond. "I suppose not. I get the impression that most monsters merely tolerate humans."

"Eh, that may be true." Naruto grinned a little and scratched at the back of his head. Old habits died hard. "To be honest, I'm a bit of a rebel. I don't always like to do what everyone else does."

The other boy chuckled slightly this time, looking immensely relieved. Since it seemed that both of them would be okay, Naruto backed away a couple steps before turning around and heading back towards campus – taking the nearby well-worn path this time. "Well, since you apparently don't need my help, I guess you're both okay. I'll be taking my leave. See you back at school."

Waving over his shoulder briefly, he heard Tsukune mumble out a 'See you' in return, but Moka was conspicuously silent. She probably didn't trust him one bit, and likely thought Tsukune was gullible as hell. If he was a gambling man (which he was, but no one else needed to know that) he'd wager that Moka was staring a hole in the back of his head.

He had a hard enough time understanding some of the crazy things Akasha did in the brief time he knew her. He'd only met her daughter for a few minutes, so he wasn't even going to try to guess what she was thinking. No sense in antagonizing her either, as there was nothing to gain from it. Besides that, he was simply supposed to be watching over her. Judging by her power levels, it would be several months at the very soonest before he could even come to the power she was displaying.

In a rather spontaneous decision, he hoped the two of them were still watching, as he decided to move in a body flicker towards the school. A rather simple technique from a now bygone era, it nonetheless managed to stun Mikogami, Akasha, and Touhou almost two hundred years ago with the pure speed it allowed. The only true limitation of the technique was that you could only move in one direction with it.

Maybe it would at least make Moka curious, if nothing else. It would be easier to monitor her and Tsukune if they were curious about him, after all.

Upon arriving back at the school the blond had changed out of his school uniform and into something more casual. Surprisingly it lacked any orange, but he hadn't really had much opportunity to find his sense of self during the relatively brief amount of time he'd been unsealed. There wasn't much variety in the closet of his new dorm room, either.

He had just finished going through some of his textbooks in hopes of finding a frame of reference for how long he'd been sealed. He'd been keeping a tally, and this was the seventh time he'd been unsealed since... forever ago. Heck, he was fairly certain that he wasn't even in his own reality anymore – and that was as recent as two sealing ceremonies ago. It was no secret that the demon realm, Makai, was a bit of a thoroughfare for people who liked to travel between dimensions.

If they didn't mind tangling with demons, that is. Of course, not all demons were of the bloodthirsty attack-on-sight variety. There were plenty of them who were just as if not more cultured than humans... though it went without saying that they just so happened to enjoy bloodshed a lot more.

Letting out a sigh, Naruto leaned forward and grabbed one book he saved for last, simply because the title looked so amusing.

_Alternate Realities for Dummies_

According to Mikogami it was actually brilliant, as it neatly put together several items that everyone should know who might have to encounter demons or any kind of 'other' being. But of course the Chairman would say that, since he was one of the authors.

Quickly scanning the introduction, Naruto didn't really begin to pay closer attention until he moved on to the first real chapter. A lot of this was stuff that he already knew, but it was nice to get an overview as a general refresher.

_As you are probably well aware of by now, there is much more to the universe than you likely ever imagined. Most of the information in this book has been built upon over the millenia and from multiple realms of reality. There are some general traits that remain constant throughout all realms, and this book has been created in an effort to keep you informed of the more general ideas that remain fairly constant throughout all the realms_

_Understand that what you read in this book will also likely be an incredible simplification of reality. Sadly, there is too much information to fit in a book such as this, therefore there are plenty of other titles that go into more detailed accounts of various aspects of differing realities._

_Another thing that will become immediately apparent is that there is a general power structure, no matter your reality. This power structure is made up of the different levels of beings. As a primer, we'll start at the bottom, with humans._

_Some may argue that humanity doesn't really belong at the bottom, as they can be considered powerful based upon technological advances, and their pure numerical superiority. No one knows how they became so populous in a large majority of the known realities, however there is no denying it. Because of this, all of the other beings generally hide their presence out of necessity. While most beings are predictable, because of their sheer numbers, humans are predictably unpredictable._

_On the next level are those who are humans with special powers. Their powers are either called 'magica', 'chakra', 'chi' or some variation thereof. They are often children of humans who partnered with a higher level being. Sadly, they are the smallest of all the groups, and therefore typically have to hide their presence more than any other because they are completely ostracized by all other societies. To differentiate themselves from humanity, they often classify themselves with curious titles, like Wizard, Warlock, Witch, and Ninja. To all other levels of this chart they are considered Boundary Beings, as they do not exist on their own, but instead on the boundary of others listed._

_Generally the next level is simply referred to as 'monsters', because their special powers have caused their appearance to deviate greatly from that of all the other beings. They consider their 'monstrous' appearances to be their baseline, and only take on human-like appearances when they need to blend in. Of the monster class of being, they also have the largest variation – some can be just as weak as an average human, while others can be nearly as strong as some of the higher-classed demons. It is a literal crap-shoot, so be careful when dealing with any monsters._

_Demons are next on the list, though they by far consider themselves to be much more than simply cultured monsters. They can take on hideous appearances as well, though most of them don't bother. The few that do are typically among those of low breeding status – they change their forms as a means of intimidation. For the most part, demons keep to themselves, as they enjoy power games and blood sport too much to fit in well anywhere else._

_Second to last we have the Celestials. Like the demons, they are known to have a reality of their own and barely ever venture out of it. Interestingly enough, demons are more common visitors to the human realities than any celestials ever are, but their few ventures out and about must have a much greater impact – simply because virtually every human reality knows of where they come from. It goes by many names now – Heaven, Eden, Avalon, Asgard... the list goes on. Getting there is another matter entirely. Humans, for example, only believe they can get there upon death. Completely untrue, but nevertheless amusing for the rest of us who know better._

_As the last beings on this list, it could simply be said that there is a hidden supreme being, or perhaps more than one, that created us all and guide us with invisible hands. There is obviously no proof of that, but the closest we do have to the idea of beings like that are what we call Shinso._

_We have always known about Shinso as far back as we have history, be it passed down through oral tradition or otherwise. Beings of what appears to be limitless power that can guide all of creation should they so choose. Many of them have had cult-like followers, others have – according to rumor – run secret clans for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years._

_The last 'known' Shinso was Akasha Bloodriver, the leader of the Three Dark Lords who defeated the Demon Vampire Lord Alucard. She hid the knowledge from everyone that she was a Shinso for an untold number of years before finally revealing her ability in order to stop the insane Demon._

_Her current whereabouts are unknown as of five years previous to this being written._

Naruto rolled his eyes. So they were being called Shinso now. He supposed it fit, all things considered. There was a reason they were usually sealed away and only released for emergencies – there was too much power between them – it was too tempting for many a person. Alucard was just one example in a long line.

_Though it is unproven, there are separate records detailing the exploits of nine different Shinso throughout the ages. It is likely that there have only ever been nine in all of recorded time. Sadly, unless there is an unprecedented catastrophe of some sort, it us unlikely that all nine will ever appear at one time – if there are even nine of them after all. The most we have ever been able to verify being around at the same time was two, and that was only for a very brief period of time._

_Sadly, even that may just be considered rumor, as there is obviously no proof, only detailed accounts of various believers._

Naruto couldn't stop the snort that escaped him. Yeah, anyone who saw that massive battle before Akasha sealed herself and Alucard away would have seen him there too, making sure the seal held. Mikogami, one of the writers of this book, had a front row seat. The only other person to make it to the end was Touhou Fuhai.

_If you ever find yourself needing to travel into another reality, especially Makai, where most of the demons reside, be aware of their ranking system based on power levels. It has permeated most realities over time, and is now widely considered the standard for power categorization._

_D is generally considered the lowest ranking, though the average human is not even warranted this designation. Very few humans are granted recognition by more powerful beings to even obtain the ranking of D, though most 'special' humans, such as Witches and Ninjas, automatically garner this ranking._

_C is considered the minimum for those with demon blood in their veins. To be anything less, in a demon's eyes, makes you not worth associating with for any reason other than to grant you a swift death. Thus this rank is widely regarded as the standard baseline of competence for any being with a lick of power._

_B is where most demons are usually ranked, and any new celestial that appears is automatically given this rank even before their own abilities are known. Keep in mind that demons often have their own internal ranking scale in Makai that uses the same denominations, so you'll often find that most demons will respond with two power rankings when asked. Their own internal ranking system is much more strict._

_A-rank is generally considered the elite. The few celestials that make themselves known usually end up at this rank, and those in higher-level demon society consider this level to be a necessity._

_S-rank is assigned to those who have nearly the ultimate power, and can take on multiple A-ranked opponents and still come out victorious. There are only ever a few dozen of them in existence across all realities at any one time._

_There are two rankings further still that aren't part of this chart, but are considered instead to be beyond it. A few would jokingly refer to the next level as SS-rank, or 'beyond S-rank'. There is no real designation for people like this, but to estimate their power level... they could crush an army of A-rank opponents or several S-rank opponents with relative ease. Alucard was widely considered to be one of the greatest 'SS-rank' demons in modern history. Many will argue that he was too insane to be worthy of such distinction._

_Obviously the next step is the last – Shinso. This level cannot be obtained by normal means – or by any means we know today. Sadly, as there is very little actually known about Shinso, all we can refer from examples through history is that it takes an undetermined amount of time for them to build up the necessary power. Once they do, however – they are nigh unstoppable until their objective has been achieved, whatever it may be._

_See Chapter 3 – Alucard, for more examples regarding his supposed path to power, and descent into insanity as a result._

_As a sidenote – one thing Akasha Bloodriver was willing to part with about Shinso was that they had an internal ranking system of their own that had been passed down through time, and that she was considered to be the second **weakest** of them all. Any requests for further information were met with silence, especially when it came to confirmation about exactly how many Shinso there were, or how she knew where she stood in their supposed heirarchy._

At that, Naruto closed the book, already feeling like he'd read enough. He was only slightly surprised that Mikogami had left out the blond's contributions, limited though they were. He knew The Exorcist had a reason for it, at least – one which made perfect sense.

It wasn't every day one got to fight alongside the latest incarnation of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

* * *

paradoxjast . blogspot . com

This was taken up as a challenge I had accepted a while back from the author many of you knew as Pokemaster12, now known as The Engulfing Silence. I owed it to him to start posting after waiting so long due to, y'know, life. Details about this fic will be found on my blog.


	2. Day 2

**Day 2**

"Thank you for coming, Naruto-kun! Allow me to start by asking – how have things been going for you?"

Naruto paused for a second at the entrance to Mikogami's office, staring blankly at the man before letting out a sigh and stepping inside, quietly closing the door behind him.

"It's barely been two days, Mikogami. Of all the questions you can ask, is that really the one?"

The Chairman simply waved at a chair in front of his desk, gesturing for the blond to have a seat. "No, not really. It's merely my attempt at opening a dialogue, you see. I didn't want to come out swinging and make you go on the defensive. You're no fun when you're defensive."

Snorting, Naruto casually moved over to the chair. His eyes were immediately drawn to the only thing on top of the desk... a small manila folder. "Right, old man. Whatever you say."

Mikogami stared at the blond for a second, then his head titled very slightly to the side. "Naruto-kun... I believe I should be the one calling you an 'old man', shouldn't I?"

"Huh? Why?" One of Naruto's eyebrow's arched upward. "Physically I'm not even eighteen yet."

There was silence for several long seconds as the two of them simply stared at each other. Naruto was the first to fidget slightly before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. "I can tell you want to ask a question. What?"

"You mean to tell me that your seal holds you completely isolated in time?"

"Didn't you know what was happening when you unsealed me the first time?" Naruto asked, obviously incredulous.

"Ahaha... would you be surprised if I said no?"

Naruto could actually see the sheepish look on the other man's face. Unbelievable. Leaning forward in the chair, he couldn't help but rub his temples with his fingers. "Everything with more density than air in the box gets held in a pocket dimension that was thoroughly tested. It's one of the only places that were ever found where time doesn't exist."

Now the other man simply looked flabbergasted. "Time doesn't... exist? How is that possible?"

The blond shrugged. "People smarter than me never figured it out. I still don't know if they have, but I have no true idea how much time has passed while I've been sealed away. All I know are two things: First, I have no idea how to get back to the place where I originally came from. Secondly, I've kept track of the time that has passed since the first time I was sealed. One year and eight months. In a little over two months, I'll have turned eighteen."

"Physically, at least," the blond added as an afterthought. "Mentally is another matter entirely."

Mikogami was staring at Naruto again, apparently at a loss for words. Knowing how talkative the man could be, the blond couldn't help but grin a little. "I know you well enough to know that you have more questions."

The Exorcist's glowing eyes flashed for a moment as he gave a start, leaning forward over his desk. "Yes, many. But I'm afraid I don't have the time now to ask them all and I doubt you have the patience needed to answer them the way I want. Therefore I will just ask two more; simple ones, even."

The man steeled himself, but it wasn't until Naruto nodded that he actually asked.

"Have you ever been back at your full power any of the times you've been released, and how many times have you been released since you were first sealed away?"

Naruto pondered the questions for barely a moment, and chuckled inwardly at the irony of the second question. "I've never made it back to full power in all the times I've been released. From what I was told before the first time I was sealed, I would regain full power within six month's time. I've never had to be released for more than four months. I've always been able to stop whatever the problem is before I ever got to that point. I don't know if the problems have been that easy to solve, or if I'm just _that _good. Maybe both... or neither, and I just got lucky."

Assuming he could actually _see_ Mikogami's eyes, he figured they would be pretty wide right now. He could only guess at that because the man's eyes simply glowed, though they looked like they were glowing brighter now. Shrugging, he leaned back in the chair again.

"This is the ninth time I've been released from the seal," he stated. "Now that I've answered your questions, why am I really here?"

The man sitting behind his desk appeared to pout for a moment before placing three fingers on top of the folder and pushing it towards the young man without saying a word.

Arching a blond eyebrow, Naruto leaned forward once again to grab it. Carefully opening it, he frowned slightly as he looked at the first item inside. It was a photo of a girl that looked like it had seen some wear. Short dark hair, oval face, slightly slanted eyes, sharp nose. There wasn't much else in the picture for him to get an approximation of her height, but the dead expression on her face intrigued him.

He pushed the photo slightly to the side, to look at the items behind it. "Is she someone I'm supposed to watch for?"

"She's the reason I can't get in touch with Fuuhai. Every time I send someone with a message, she intercepts and kills them. I got that picture three messengers ago, right before he was killed. I sent his successor to talk to her, but I never heard from him again. Of the last messenger I only got his head back. That was two months ago."

Naruto's lips formed a thin line as he looked over the photo again. There was nothing familiar about her, but he tried to commit her face to memory.

"Her name is Akua Shuzen."

Shuzen. Naruto's thought processes halted for a moment. The name itself rang a very faint bell, but it didn't really stand out. He vaguely recalled the name from the last time he was out of the seal, but it couldn't have been anything of great significance, since returning from the seal only felt like a nap. Two hundred years ago to Mikogami was simply three days ago for him.

"I faintly recognize the name, but it doesn't really strike me as important," he finally said.

"I'm not surprised. Her father is Issa Shuzen, the leader of the Shuzen clan which only rose to prominence about, oh... forty years ago, give or take a few years. He was one of the few who volunteered for that final battle with Alucard and didn't die before Akasha sealed him away."

"Huh. Good on him." Naruto's voice didn't relay that he was impressed, because he wasn't. He wanted to delay attacking Alucard for another couple of weeks so that he'd be on-par with Akasha at least, and then they would simply overwhelm the first vampire.

Akasha had other ideas, though. Naruto was teaching her a few seals that he knew, and since the woman was a rather quick study she modified one that would seal the monster away, but needed her life force to do it. She figured her one life was worth it to save the perhaps thousands more that Alucard would absorb before they could stop him with force.

Tenmei and Fuuhai had agreed with her, for their own reasons. Naruto didn't ask. He didn't participate in that final fight either, calling them all foolish.

Akasha's plan did work, at least, and Naruto spent his last day before his own re-sealing staring at the now-dormant Alucard but feeling Akasha's presence radiate from him. The threat was over, so he was re-sealed with a general feeling of antipathy.

Only to wake up after what felt like a short nap to find things had gone a little differently than any of them had planned. Maybe they'd actually listen to him this time.

His eyes were scanning the next few pieces of paper while his thoughts had wandered. The information contained on them proved to be of little interest to him, but he was sure Mikogami had shown them to him for some reason.

"So... this 'Fairy Tale'. Let me guess... an organization determined to conquer the world, or worlds, by harnessing the power of some otherworldly being," he drawled.

"Er... yes. I'm impressed you managed to figure that out from so little information."

Naruto's eyes closed for a moment. "This will be the third time I've had to deal with a group like them. Though honestly..." His eyes opened again and he scanned a few of the lines, "If this is true they are pretty well organized. I'd almost have to put them up there with Akatsuki from back home, though no one has been able to best that group yet."

"Akatsuki?" The curiosity was rampant in The Exorcist's voice. Naruto decided to humor him.

"Group of ninja... boundary beings. The upper echelon of what constitutes being a ninja, too. Looking back, I'm sure at least two of them were descended from demons, one of them maybe even a celestial." He shrugged. "Judging time is really hard, but I'd venture a guess that they existed a couple thousand years ago now. For me, though... it's been about two years."

He heard a whistle, and looked up from the folder to see Mikogami staring at a nearby wall, mumbling to himself. It was hard for Naruto to give an exact figure, because time moved differently in every reality. Like the one he was sealed into where time didn't exist, there were others where time moved in fast forward compared to others. Therefore he almost had to deal with time in averages, not absolutes.

It was a staggering concept, and he tried not to think to much about it.

Everything stopped, however, when he got to the last item in the folder. With a jerking motion, he grabbed the top of this new photo and lifted it, rustling the slick paper and shoving it towards the school headmaster.

"Where... where did you see this? How long ago?"

Mikogami's attention was brought back to Naruto. He glanced at the photo for a moment before a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I thought you might be interested in that. You're the only connection I've ever been able to make to it in my entire life. Of course, it intrigued me, so I thought-"

"_Tenmei."_

The slight drop in Naruto's voice meant all the difference. The Exorcist's lips immediately shut, and one of his eyebrows rose a bit. There was an underlying steel behind the blond's tone, and for whatever reason the man decided it was likely in his best interest to treat this as a serious matter.

"I came across it in Makai, roughly fifty years ago... though I know you're aware time moves more slowly in Makai than in almost every other reality – so it's difficult to say exactly when. As the only other time I had seen that was on your clothing or on the walls of your chamber, I became immensely curious."

Mikogami sighed, leaning back in his chair as he pressed his fingertips together in front of him. "Sadly, I haven't had the time to investigate. Now that you're back, though, I had thought you might want to check it out yourself."

Naruto definitely wanted to. Unfortunately, there were special portals needed to get to Makai, and he didn't know where the nearest one was. On top of that, he'd only ever been there once before.

"This school exists in a pocket dimension that is part of a larger reality – one where both humans and monsters live together, though the monsters obviously have to blend in. Tsukune-kun is from there."

Naruto rubbed at his chin. "I've been meaning to ask, why is the school out here in the middle of nowhere, anyway?"

Mikogami chuckled, but it was a darker chuckle than one of his normal ones – causing the blond to focus intently on the man. "Do you know what your 'tomb' does when it seals you?"

Naruto could only shake his head. He had no idea.

"It uses ambient energy in the environment to mask your power as it suppresses you and seals you away. I guess they didn't tell you that it takes a _lot_ of energy to seal away a being of your power."

The blond didn't like where this was going. "I had suspicions, but no one has ever said anything..."

"This place has apparently seen a cycle of life and death several times – so much so that the area has likely changed greatly, otherwise you likely would have noticed. Your tomb has been moved several times from what I've been able to discern, but the last few have kept it here, likely because there _was_ no civilization anywhere nearby."

Mikogami's expression grew rather severe as he leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk in front of him. "When I released your seal the first time, your tomb was surrounded by a lush forest, near a rather large lake. There had obviously been no one around for hundreds of years, yet your tomb was perfectly intact as if it had just been constructed. The seals in the area – I couldn't even hope to decipher them.

"I didn't think much of the entire process after that, as we had Alucard to deal with. When I sealed you away again, I immediately noticed something... the seals had come alive in a manner I had not seen before, and were draining the very life out of the surrounding environment. Panicking, I had to find a way to keep your tomb isolated, as it was draining the environment at an alarming rate, and human establishments had begun to crop up closer than I liked.

"So I pulled your tomb and the surrounding area into a pocket dimension surrounded by a barrier of mine and Fuuhai's devising – and thankfully your tomb did not drain energy outside of it. It's been continuously draining ever since you were sealed, roughly two hundred years ago – and only stopped when you were released again a few days ago."

"So that's why you built the school here?" Naruto asked.

"Partly," Mikogami answered. "As your guardian, I had no choice but to be nearby until your tomb disappeared like it had every other time. However the drain was going so slow and it was taking so long, I had to find another way to hide it."

The man waved one of his hands about. "Hence, this school. I built it on top of your tomb. The barrier that keeps this dimension separate from the one where Tsukune-kun comes from draws power in a similar way as your tomb, but it needs a trickle compared to yours. Not only that, it uses the ambient youki in the air released by monsters, instead of natural energy.

"So long as you don't gain a massive power up and release it all here, the barrier should remain intact."

The smile on Tenmei's face was rather grim compared to his usual, so Naruto just nodded to the man, showing he understood.

He'd have to go over the process with the Chairman in further detail at a later date. For now, however...

The blond moved the photo back in front of him again, staring at it. It was nothing but a picture of a rock, but it was a special rock. One that had been carved to resemble a pillar – but a pillar that was standing in the middle of what looked to be a vast plain. There was one little detail that made a chill run down his spine every time he focused on it, though.

There was a circle carved into the pillar. Inside that circle were lines that were spiraling towards the middle. Just like he had on his current shirt. Just like the ones that adorned the walls of his tomb. The Uzumaki clan symbol.

He had somewhat intentionally avoided visiting the demon world every time he'd been released before. This time, however, it seemed he didn't have a choice. At least, if he wanted to find out what it might mean. It could be nothing at all or something completely unrelated – but he didn't want to take that chance after all this time.

* * *

**Day 4**

It wasn't until several days after officially meeting Tsukune and Moka (or at least her sealed portion) that he was approached by the boy.

"U-Uhm, excuse me, Naruto-san?"

The blond slowly turned his head from looking out the window over to see who had addressed him. Most of the time when anyone talked to him it was to see what sort of hobbies he might have had or if he was interested in joining any clubs. So far he had offered polite disinterest for pretty much all of them, with two exceptions.

There was a karate club, and a crafting club. Both of them piqued his interest for completely different reasons. He was actually thinking about asking if it was possible to join more than one club, just for the sake of curiosity.

That could be followed up on later, however.

"Just call me Naruto." The blond waved his hand about idly as he leaned back in his chair. "Is there something I can do for you, Tsukune?"

The other boy just stared at him expressionless for a moment before nodding briefly. "Y-Yes. Moka-san and I were wondering if you'd like to have lunch with us. I mean, well... Moka-san actually suggested it and I agreed. We saw that you usually sit by yourself in the lunch room, even if you aren't there very long..."

Trailing off into silence, the other teenager let out a shaky laugh as he scratched his cheek, not meeting Naruto's eyes. Noticing this, the blond glanced over towards where Moka sat in the class, only to catch a glimpse of her long pink hair settling around her shoulders as she quickly looked away.

He couldn't help it, he grinned a little.

"Sure, why not? I can't say I have a lot to talk about, but it beats sitting alone. Do I just meet you there or are we call going when the bell rings?"

"Uhm, we can all go when the bell rings, I think." Tsukune stopped and thought for a second. "Moka-san usually drags me out anyway," he admitted with a sigh and a small shrug.

"Okay, if she drags you out, I'll try to follow."

Tsukune smiled slightly, nodded once, then wandered back over towards his seat. Naruto followed the boy as he sat down, watching Moka almost immediately turned her head to look at the other teen. Something was whispered between the two, and the girl nodded a couple times before her eyes flicked back over towards Naruto.

The blond, who had been looking in her general direction ever since Tsukune left, simply raised an eyebrow as they stared at each other. She let out a little squeak and quickly faced forward in her seat once again. A few classmates who were doing self-study looked at her curiously, as did Tsukune – but he was the only one to follow up looking at her by actually turning around to look questioningly at the blond.

Naruto merely offered an 'I dunno' shrug, and went back to staring out the window.

This might be more amusing than he originally thought.

The rest of class proved to be dreary and uneventful, just as he suspected it would be. That wasn't to say he wasn't learning anything, because he was. The blond was simply so used to self-study out of necessity that a group environment bored him. He was too used to learning at his own pace. Not to mention he couldn't cherry-pick what he wanted to learn, either. They went over _everything_.

Once the bell finally rang, Naruto was quick to put his text and notebooks away, just in case he had to go chasing after Moka and Tsukune because they forgot.

Well, more like Moka would forget. From what little he did know about her in this form, she was very book-smart, but otherwise a bit of a ditz. Of course, vampires were known for their cunning along with their power, so she legitimately could be trying to play everyone for fools.

Her mother was very good at that.

Therefore he was only minimally surprised when the vampire girl offered him a bright smile when he approached her and Tsukune after the bell rang.

"Hello, Naruto-kun! It's nice to meet you!"

There were numerous things he could have done or said in response to her greeting. The fact that she used an affectionate suffix when she didn't really know him at all, coupled with the blinding smile and overly friendly demeanor almost instantly put him on guard. Either she really was this friendly to anyone she hadn't technically met yet, or she was trying to play herself off as innocent.

Or, maybe... just maybe... she was being nice since she was obviously on fairly friendly terms with Tsukune, and Naruto didn't beat the other teen into a pulp, mock, or antagonize him in any way. Besides, they didn't really know who he was yet.

So instead of doing anything... extreme, he simply held out his hand and offered a small smile. "Nice to meet you, well... again, Moka-chan."

There was a slight tensing of her shoulders, most would have missed it. On of the things he was fairly good at because of the way he grew up was reading body cues. He was far from an expert, but there were certain things he knew to watch for – especially around the face, neck, and shoulders. Interestingly, the tensing barely lasted a second, and if anything she seemed even happier than before.

Almost like she was relieved about something...

Her hand slid into his in a gentle grip. Somewhat surprising – he was expecting a firmer one, considering what she was. Maybe she was getting used to being around Tsukune and didn't want to accidentally crush the boy? Oh well, it didn't really matter.

"I didn't get a handshake," he heard Tsukune mumble.

Naruto, still holding Moka's hand, looked at the other teen with a slightly raised eyebrow. "You were also bleeding in several places and looked like a scared rabbit when I approached, and _then_ you turned down my offer of help."

Once again, Tsukune turned away slightly, looking embarrassed. It was true, after all.

Letting go of Moka's hand, he turned to look at her, only to see her staring at him intently. It was slightly disconcerting. At least she was still somewhat smiling.

"Is something wrong?"

Whatever she might have been looking for, his voice snapped her out of it, and she immediately began apologizing, "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun! I didn't mean to stare, it's just... well..."

Both Naruto and Tsukune were quiet, waiting for her to continue. It took a moment, but eventually she did.

"I guess I should just say that I'm, well... a little impressed, Naruto-kun. You met my... my other self, and while it feels like I was in a dream I can still remember some of the things that happened. You didn't look scared of me at all. Even now, you know what I am and you're still here."

Naruto blinked once, then twice, before frowning a bit. Moka obviously had some confidence issues. From what, he really had no idea, as her alternate self seemed to simply ooze confidence. For the moment he was in the dark, though he knew if he built a rapport with her – or both of them, rather – he'd find out eventually.

In response to her comment, though, he could only shrug as he looked between his two current classmates. "I learned a long time ago not to judge people right away, because sometimes they act the way they do based on previous experiences. Even then, if they mess up, I'm pretty good about second chances."

He'd reviewed his own history enough times to know that he probably gave some people too many chances... but it made him who he was today, so he couldn't really complain much.

The other two looked at each other before staring at him again, both wide eyed. Almost immediately after, Moka opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupted when her stomach gurgled.

Silence settled over them for a second before Moka held her hands over her stomach and blushed, while Tsukune actually started edging away from them towards the door. Naruto didn't say anything as the boy quickly spit out 'goingtolunchnowokaybye!' and turned, sprinting out of the classroom.

"Mouuuu... I'm thirstyyyy... why did he run?"

"_So he wouldn't get bitten?"_ was Naruto's obvious thought, though he wisely chose not to share it. Being a smart ass wouldn't endear him to Moka or Tsukune. He was hungry too, though, so he didn't waste any time walking towards the door either. His new vampire companion must have caught on, as she quickly fell into step next to him.

Only for her stomach to gurgle again.

"Is it always sudden like that?"

Moka's head jerked to the side, obviously startled by his question. Naruto had to wonder if she'd ever been asked a question like it before.

"N-No, not really. I've not been drinking that much, because I don't want to hurt Tsukune. I appreciate that he lets me do it, but I don't want to hurt him. So I just go hungry until I can get one of the transfusion packs from my dorm. His blood tastes really good, since he's... you know. I have to force myself to stop."

The blond hummed at her response. His experiences with vampires were many, though he didn't get to know any of them as more than acquaintances other than Akasha. Interestingly enough, he had never seen Akasha drink anyone's blood. There was no real point in asking her about it either, because they were in the middle of a fight with Alucard, who simply _absorbed_ and _assimilated_ people, blood and all. It was literally like Orochimaru times ten.

Without much further thought, he rolled up one of the sleeves of his shirt and jacket up to his elbow, then gestured his now exposed arm towards her. Moka stopped and stared at him, shocked.

"Naruto-kun?"

"What?" He gestured again. "You need to drink, right? I know what it's like to go hungry. While this does seem a little odd to me, I'm curious – does it need to be human blood?"

Moka went wide-eyed for a moment and looked around quickly, but relaxed when she realized no one was within hearing distance. Once she finished looking around, the girl became transfixed on his arm for a few seconds before forcefully tearing her gaze away and looking up at him.

"I appreciate it, Naruto-kun, but I'll manage. I just need to get some tomato juice as a substitute in the cafeteria and I'll be fine until I get back to my dorm."

"Tomato juice? Really?" Naruto stared at her, obviously skeptical. At times like this he almost wished he had talked with Akasha more. Almost.

Moka nodded, slowly moving back over to him before grabbing at his arm, deftly pulling his sleeve back down. "It's close enough in texture to blood that it can fool our bodies, but only for a little while. I don't really understand it, but my mother taught it to me."

The girl went quiet at the mention of her mother, but still held onto the fabric of his sleeve. After a couple more seconds she returned to her senses and offered him a brief smile, before firmly grasping his forearm and tugging him towards the cafeteria.

"Let's go. I'd bet Tsukune is going to be getting worried, if he isn't already."

Naruto remained silent, obediently following along. Part of him wanted to question her more about being a vampire – his thoughts briefly drifted to Akasha once more – but decided against it. Be it fortunate or unfortunate, he'd have at least the next two years to learn.

* * *

**Day Seven**

Naruto grunted as he awoke from his meditation, stretching his arms above his head before falling backwards to lay on the roof. Yesterday had been interesting in a way that was making it hard for him to clear his mind the way he needed.

As he had been coming down the stairs from a class on the second floor, he encountered what appeared to be an argument going in full-swing, only to realize later that it was actually near its end. The blond normally wouldn't have paid it any mind, however this time there were two people he was coming to see as friends that were involved.

There was a girl with shoulder length dark blue hair and an admittedly impressive bust hanging off one of Tsukune's arms, while Moka was standing there looking agitated. He attempted to focus on the conversation right away, but a barely detectable burst of youki from the blue haired girl targeted at Tsukune distracted him, since for appearance's sake it didn't look like it did anything to the boy.

Naruto was about to mark it off as nothing until the effect became quickly apparent when Tsukune turned to face Moka in a jerky, stiff motion, and spoke in a monotone voice, "Oh, really? Aren't you the one sucking my blood, Moka-san?"

Alarm bells instantly went off. Sure, Tsukune had complained about it before, but never really made an attempt at _stopping_ Moka from doing it, therefore it led him to believe that he really didn't mind. Hell, Naruto knew he wouldn't, otherwise he'd never have offered in the first place.

Letting out a sigh, the blond sat up, looked around briefly, then leaped to his feet. His mind began to wander again as he slowly moved towards the stairwell door on his way to exit the school. He could have always jumped over the side, but school had just let out so there were too many people around. Even if his reserves were slowly trickling back, there was no sense in bringing extra attention to himself.

As he traveled down the stairs and moved through the rest of the school building on the way to the exit, his thoughts once again drifted. He wasn't a fan of the blue haired girl at first, she seemed a bit too... needy. The blond made a conscious choice not to get involved unless either Moka or Tsukune asked for help. Back in the day he would have chased down one or both of them when they left the area, but he knew that he shouldn't solve every issue that came their way or they'd never be able to grow on their own.

He told himself he'd step in if it got serious, but as far as he knew it never got to that point. Naruto had been sorely tempted to talk to Moka about what was going on since she appeared to be rather upset, but then that look changed to determination as he observed her... so he let it go.

He went to class, though neither of them ended up showing up for the rest of the day. A quick survey of the school with the few clones he could manage in disguise didn't turn up anything, and when he stopped by Tsukune's room in the dorm he wasn't back yet.

It wasn't until he went to check Tsukune's room again later that evening that he found the boy there and got the story.

Apparently the blue haired girl was a succubus, and her name was Kurumu. She wanted to bewitch all the boys in the school, but felt that Moka was in her way. After a bit of a fight, they managed to talk things out, and were all 'friends' now.

Naruto knew that Tsukune had really summed it up, but the teen looked dead tired so Naruto let him go. He knew that he'd probably get all the details the next day before school. Which he did. The blond was having a hard time figuring out what redeeming qualities the succubus had from the explanation, though he had to admit that he hadn't really talked with her enough yet to form his own opinions of her.

So far she could usually be found getting grabby with Tsukune. It was amusing at first, but it was already getting old. He didn't know whether to be thankful or depressed that she hadn't attempted to bury his face in her chest yet.

Yawning slightly as he finally exited the school building, the blond looked around to see if he recognized anyone standing around outside. Moka was hard to miss, and Kurumu stood out quite a bit too... though he saw neither of them. Too many of the guys looked similar to Tsukune, so he didn't even bother looking for the boy.

Taking off down the path, the blond thought about what he knew so far of the succubus. It wasn't much, honestly. With her around Naruto slipped even more into the background, which he honestly didn't mind at all. Most of his morning was spent watching the three of them interact.

Moka, bless her soul, tried to include Naruto in the goings on... at first. Whenever she made an attempt, however, Kurumu took advantage of the situation and started to do all kinds of things to Tsukune that made the poor kid turn red over and over again. Moka felt it was her duty to stop Kurumu and rescue the other teen – though part of Naruto wondered why she bothered when it became obvious Tsukune's attempt to stop Kurumu were halfhearted at best.

Of course he knew he'd be the same way if Kurumu kept shoving her breasts in his face... but she wasn't. Therefore it was a moot point. Honestly, the girl seemed perfectly fine pretending that he didn't even exist after they were introduced, therefore he was perfectly okay with returning the favor.

"Well it's about time. Running a little late today?"

Naruto stopped walking along the path that ran between the school and the dorms, immediately looking to his right.

"Maybe I am. It's not nice to stalk people, you know."

The gruff voice was easily recognizable. Saizou Komiya. Troublemaker. Already had his ass kicked by Moka, but apparently that wasn't enough.

"Who cares?" The monster inquired to no one as it came lumbering out from behind some foliage... he was slowly transforming into his 'true' form as he approached the path. "I've seen you hanging around that vampire and her other weak little friends the past couple of days. I figure I can make an example of you to get back at that bitch, so be a good monster and stand still so I can smash you into pieces, yeah?"

So it was a revenge attempt, after all. Naruto let out a sigh, calming himself and staring straight at the ogre as he approached. He had to be at least 8 feet tall now and still growing. Muscles were bulging and rippling along Saizou's arms and chest, and his tongue began to lengthen and hang out of his mouth.

Orochimaru flashbacks. Naruto shivered slightly.

The blond closed his eyes for a moment, in an attempt to feel just how strong his opponent might be. He wasn't surprised that he didn't really feel much in the way of any energy from the ogre... it was likely that they bulked up physically for what they lacked in any sort of spiritual energy. In this case, youki.

"Closing your eyes and accepting your fate? I'd almost say you're making this too easy."

Naruto still didn't respond, instead listening to the ogre's heavy footsteps as they crunched dead twigs and other dry foliage underneath. There were a few whispers that he could hear from other students that were traveling the same path and were likely watching the fight that was about to start.

He didn't want to disappoint them, but he knew it wouldn't be much of a fight. It would be more of a small altercation, assuming there were no interruptions.

"Naruto-kun!"

The blond had to forcefully keep himself from flinching. Great, just what he _didn't_ need. What was this, some sort of manga where he would be beaten into submission by cliché after cliché? Talk about timing...

"Ahahaha!" Saizou began to laugh after hearing the voice. "What a coincidence! Your friends are here to watch you get beaten into a bloody pulp!"

Naruto still didn't say a word, but he could hear several sets of footsteps running on the gravel path to get closer to him, not to mention his and Saizou's names being repeated by Moka, and occasionally a shout from Tsukune.

His senses sharpened immediately as a quick, faint burst of killing intent was pushed against him as the ogre prepared to attack. Opening his eyes again, he looked up to see an easily ten foot tall Saizou towering over him now; one arm was pulled back as the monster prepared to hit him.

To Naruto, who was used to dealing with fighters who could move incredibly fast, it literally felt like the ogre was moving in slow motion. For a brief couple of seconds, he was tempted to yawn.

It was a cakewalk catching the meaty fist in his own hand. Well... more like stop it, as the fist was probably larger than his own head. If the blond had to be honest with himself, he was actually a little disappointed by the impact. Even though he was channeling chakra through most of his body – especially in his limbs - the relatively small amount he used overall was able to insulate him enough to the point where he didn't even feel a sting from the punch.

The blond stared straight into the eyes of Saizou, whose jaw appeared to have become unhinged as his tongue dangled even more loosely. To make it worse, it looked like he was drooling. Other than the ogre looking like a fool, it was dead quiet around them... no more quickly approaching footsteps, and no more whispers.

Great. He didn't want to stand out. All it took was a week, and now people were going to start whispering about _him_ in the hallways. He would have smacked his free hand against his forehead, but at the moment that would have been a little over the top. Why couldn't Saizou have taken his beating from Moka like a good little ogre and left him alone?

Instead of dwelling on the issue, he settled for a little verbal sparring. Might as well get _some_ entertainment out of this.

"Is that it?" Naruto asked, with a completely bored expression.

The ogre's eyes immediately refocused, but he was obviously still shocked. "W-What... how did you stop me?"

Naruto looked down at his hand grabbing the ogre's fist, then looked back up into his opponent's eyes. "I flexed my own muscle a little, obviously."

Saizou began to growl and attempted to pull his fist back, but Naruto applied a little chakra to his own feet and hand, keeping them stuck to the ground and fist, respectively. The ogre made a pretty big show about trying to pull his fist back again, but after several failed attempts decided to punch Naruto with his other hand instead.

Clucking his tongue and shaking his head, Naruto reinforced his legs and left arm. With a slight grunt, he _pulled_ and lifted the ogre off its feet, over his own head, and finished the move by slamming the monster on it's back behind where he was standing.

Standing still for a few seconds, Naruto shifted slightly to his left in order to look over his shoulder. Saizou was laying in a small indent in the ground, grunting and moaning though clearly dazed.

"I think you should go take a nap in the forest, and leave us students in peace."

His brief piece said, Naruto once again tugged on the ogre, and with a little more force than before flung the monster into the tree line, listening to the noises of it crashing through some of the dead looking trees before the noise finally stopped.

Blowing out a deep breath as silence settled around him again, Naruto shook his head and chuckled, then placed both hands in his pockets as he turned to casually stroll back towards the dormitories once again.

Only to stop as two hands grabbed his forearm, stopping him. Looking over his shoulder again, he was mildly surprised to see that Moka was looking at him rather intensely, though there was an underlying trace of worry in her features.

She moved pretty fast. He actually hadn't even heard her move. That was surprising, considering most of her power was sealed. Something to look into later, perhaps.

"Is something wrong, Moka-chan?"

The girl blinked once, then squinted at him. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto shrugged and chuckled again. "Just had to take out the trash, that's all. It was an eyesore that was starting to encroach on the school grounds."

The pink-haired girl quickly glanced towards the forest, her brow furrowing for a moment, then looking back at him again. She opened her mouth to speak once again, at least until they both heard Tsukune let out a yelp.

Apparently Kurumu used Moka's moment of distraction to start molesting the teen again. She was grabbing at him while pressing her body against his, and Naruto distinctly heard her mention something about Tsukune protecting her from the 'big, scary blond'.

Oh, if she only knew.

It was enough to stop Moka from asking or saying whatever she was about to, as she promptly released his arm and started running back towards the other two, flailing her arms about while yelling for Kurumu to stop.

Snorting, Naruto quickly turned on his heel and once again started walking back towards the dorm. Most of the students who had witnessed the events finally stopped outright staring, but most of them were giving him a wide berth to pass.

That was fine with him. He had more pressing things to do, such as trying to meditate some more once he reached his dorm. He didn't feel tired at all after that little skirmish, and even though he used chakra for only a short time he had reinforced his body with more in a short period of time than he had for a long while.

It had only been a week, too – so things were looking up. At his current rate, if he was lucky he'd be able to maintain his sage abilities for a couple minutes without risk of being overpowered in another two weeks.

Once he could maintain Sage Mode... it would be time to pay Issa Shuzen a little visit.

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Some things to keep in mind...

- Naruto thought more about running last chapter because he knows that he's weakened and doesn't know the power levels of the people he's around right now. He was just re-released since fighting Alucard, who for all intents and purposes was pretty high up on the degree of difficulty scale. This little encounter with Saizou was a test for him. He was obviously a bit disappointed.

- He's a little more mentally mature than he is physically mature, due to prodigious use of Shadow Clones. That, and only being allowed 'out' in order to fight can make a person a bit jaded. He needs some time to recover.


End file.
